The original rickshaw was much the same as the pedicab. But instead of it being pedaled and having a third wheel in
front of the driver, it is being pulled by someone, usually a man. This method of transporting passengers by pulling the rickshaw has given birth to the term “rickshaw puller.”I am sure that many of us at some point may have seen a depiction of a rickshaw as this is a common theme of both old and new photos of Asia.
A rickshaw-van however, is a custom-made three-wheeled cycle with a wooden flatbed attached to the two rear wheels instead of the passenger seat of a normal rickshaw. But in Bangladesh, they sometimes call this only as “van.”
I remember one of the Canadian volunteers was fooled by their use of the word van. When she first met the executive director of the partner organization she was going to be working with, she was told that the organization has a van that she can use as transportation for her field work. Her work involved frequent visits to the partner community organizations in the remote villages.
When she finally saw the van, she was very shocked. But she just laughed it off. She eventually learned to like it. It's actually cooler than a regular automobile van. You have the wind on your face. But you have to have a hat to protect yourself from the sun during summer.
She used to ride the van with her back to the rickshaw puller and her feet dangling beneath her. Can you imagine a beautiful 60-year old white female with white-blond hair doing that? She was cruising along the small alleyways and side streets in the farming villages of Southern Bangladesh. And you bet, she caused quite a stir.
My first experience with the Bangladeshi van, if not the only so far, was when I first crossed India from Bangladesh with two friends. We had to take the van from the bus stop to the customs and immigrations offices located a mile away. We were so thrilled by the novelty of the experience that we took pictures of ourselves riding on the van. We even tried to tell the rickshaw puller (the Bengali term is wallah) to stop for a few minutes so we could take pictures.
But the rickshawallah refused. He wanted to reach the waiting area as fast as possible so he could go back to the bus and take other passengers. They are paid by the bus company according to the number of passengers and number of times they have brought passengers from the bus stop to the border. And the fare is very minimal. So we did not insist on the stop.
Instead, my friends and I tried to take pictures by just extending their arms. I’m sure most people have tried that and found it easy enough when you’re sitting or standing
still. But it’s a different story when you’re on a moving rickshaw.We were all sitting on the edge of the flatbed because our bags occupied the middle. So couldn't move much, otherwise the flatbed would flip over. We didn’t relish the thought of being run over by a rickshaw. Besides, the road wasn't exactly that smooth.
Thus, we ended up spending the rest of the rickshaw trip trying to take pictures of ourselves on the van while trying to hold on to the flatbed so as not to fall over. We did that until we reached the waiting area.
The rickshawallah immediately took off once the last of our bags was taken from his van.
As we tried to settle down on the plastic chairs outside the waiting room which was already full of people and luggage, one of my friends asked me what they call the real van – the auto/motorized one. I told her they call it the minibus.